How Kidney Disease Affects Dogs

Kidney disease is fairly common in domestic dogs, particularly as they advance in age. While a number of things can contribute to kidney disease, the symptoms tend to be nonspecific. Early diagnosis and intervention may help curb progressive kidney damage in acute cases. However, especially in chronic cases, one or both kidneys usually are severely and irreparably damaged by the time observable signs appear.

Symptoms of Canine Kidney Disease

The symptoms of kidney disease result from the body’s attempt to compensate for the kidneys’ diminishing ability to flush toxins out of circulation. Ultimately, with chronic disease, those attempts are unsuccessful. The symptoms of kidney disease include:

As the kidneys deteriorate, the urine becomes less concentrated and lighter in color. Dogs with end-stage kidney failure develop high blood pressure, stop eating, make few if any attempts to urinate and produce little or no urine. They ultimately collapse, go into a coma and die. Unfortunately, owners usually cannot detect chronic kidney disease until the damage has become irreversible.